larry johnson brings you up to date on our various military adventures;

A short answer, “No!” The actual anniversary of the October 7, 2023 attack was last Saturday. I don’t want to get into a discussion of whether or not Netanyahu allowed this to happen as part of a diabolical plot to eliminate the Palestinian presence in Gaza or that Israel, stunned by the Hamas attack, took advantage of the situation to justify exterminating the Palestinians. Let’s deal with the facts of the past year.

First, despite Israel’s vow to “defeat” Hamas, the Palestinian fighters, which include Palestinian Islamic Jihad and others, are still fighting and, according to some reports, recruiting more members.

Second, the Palestinian civilians have endured unimaginable suffering. At least 45,000 are dead, with more than 50% of those being women and children, not combatants. And yes, I realize The Lancet estimates the number may well be over 180,000. Israel’s operation to destroy Hamas has succeeded in making Israel a pariah among nations.

Third, the Israeli response has empowered the Houthis and Hezbollah. While it is true that Israel, with help from its Western allies, has tried to bomb the Houthis into submission, the fighters of Yemen have stunned the world by successfully shutting down maritime traffic in the Red Sea.

On the northern front, Israel, with the encouragement and support of the US, has embarked on a brutal campaign to destroy Hezbollah. Israel’s success in using explosive-laden pagers and targeted bombings to kill Hezbollah leadership, has failed to weaken Hezbollah’s command-and-control and its will to fight. If anything, it has emboldened Hezbollah to press its attacks with missiles and rockets while remaining in defensive emplacements to ambush oncoming Israeli troops.

Fourth, Israel, again with the US urging it on, is desperately trying to provoke a war with Iran, but Iran is cagily not taking the bait and not striking out recklessly. Iran is engaged in controlled escalation. Its latest barrage of ballistic missiles primarily was a demonstration designed to send an unmistakable message to Israel and the West — i.e., we can hit Israel anytime we want and you cannot stop us.

We now wait to see what Israel will do. If Israel decides to attack Iranian nuclear facilities, that attack may be thwarted with the assistance of Russian air-defense systems. But, even if Iran blunts the attack, I anticipate that Iran will immediately retaliate and strike at Israel’s nuclear facilities. Ditto for targeting oil facilities. The next step in the escalation ladder will be a tit-for-tat slugfest........more.........